


How to Avoid Mind Control (but just barely)

by DeepSpaceTrash



Category: Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: Adoption, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Canon Compliant, Canon-Typical Violence, Grief/Mourning, Hurt and comfort, Misunderstandings, Order 66, Panic Attacks, Post-Order 66, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Pre-Order 66 (Star Wars), and fox once, fives is only mentioned twice, i probably fricked up the timeline but honestly i tried, i'd like to apologize in advance, platonic fluff, this is my first proper fic please be gentle
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-09
Updated: 2020-10-03
Packaged: 2021-03-06 05:27:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 9,644
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25808095
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DeepSpaceTrash/pseuds/DeepSpaceTrash
Summary: Indigo knew he was an idiot, but he didn't think he could ever kriff up this bad.AkaBad decisions are made, misunderstandings happen, a child is adopted, and everyone is lucky to make it out alive.Updates weekly
Comments: 1
Kudos: 14





	1. Morning Patrol

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first proper fic and I'm super nervous about posting it haha. Thank you to all my lovely beta readers, y'all really put up with all my nonsense and reading this <3

Indigo looked over himself one more time. Armor was fine. He didn’t forget his blaster. He was ready to go. He was nervous for his first official day working on Coruscant, but Balance and Mask would be with him. Everything was going to go great.

The two were already waiting for him. Balance was anxiously fidgeting while Mask was flicking lazily through something on a datapad.

“Finally, you-” Balance paused. “Indigo, you’re going to drive me insane.”

“What? I haven’t even done anything yet!”

“I- How-” The clone let out an exasperated sigh. “Okay, alright, it’s fine. Haha, funny joke. Seriously though, we can’t be late.”

“I still don’t know what you’re talking about!”

Even though his face couldn’t be seen, Indigo had known Mask long enough to tell he was rolling his eyes.

“Indigo, you’re missing your fracking helmet.”

Indigo blinked, and slowly ran a hand through his hair.

“Huh. I guess I am.”

The clone darted back into the room as Balance released another exasperated sigh. Indigo returned a moment later, this time wearing his helmet.

“Alright, okay, this is fine.” Balance had calmed down, though he was still tapping his foot. “If we leave now, we can still make it.”

“Cool your jets, we’ve got 40 damn minutes before our shift starts,” Mask commented, not looking up from his datapad. 

“Wait, then what are we doing? I could have been eating breakfast right now, but you rushed us so we wouldn’t be late.” Indigo asked, crossing his arms.

“Well, under normal circumstances, yes. However, taking into account potentially bad traffic, an extra 45 minutes would prevent us from being late. We only have 40 minutes since you were taking a while, but we should be fine as long as traffic isn’t too awful.”

Indigo looked out the giant windows right next to them which looked out at the sprawling city around them. “Doesn’t look like there’s much traffic. We could just hang around here for a while instead of having to wait around out there with nothing to do.”

“There might not be traffic now, but there could be later. And there is the possibility that heavy traffic could cause an accident, one that we could be involved in that could kill us. If we don’t die, we might end up late, and we could end up in serious trouble, and-” Balance had started to ramble, anxiously wringing his hands.

“Hey hey hey, it’s gonna be okay.” Mask stepped between the two, putting a hand on one of Balance’s shoulders. “That isn’t happening right now, you’re okay.”

“Yeah man, it’s alright. We can go right now, it’s honestly not that big of a deal.” Indigo chimed in. Things like this happened decently often with Balance, and the other two clones had learned that talking Balance out of it seemed to help. They weren’t sure why these things happened to him, it had been a thing with him for basically forever and it had only grown worse over time, but the two of them were there for him.

“That would be nice.” There was a slight quaver in his voice, but as Balance took in and let out a deep breath, he seemed to have calmed down again. “I’m sorry.”

“Relax, it’s not a big deal,” Mask replied with a shrug, removing his hand.

“Yeah! You don’t have anything to apologize for.” Indigo agreed. “Now, let’s get going.”

Balance nodded in agreement, and the trio headed off. In the end, the traffic was perfectly fine, and they made it with plenty of time to spare. Balance kept an eye out for the returning patrol while Mask went back to looking through the datapad, Indigo peering over his shoulder.

“Why do you get the datapad anyway?” Indigo asked.

“Because you broke it the last time we let you have one, and Balance is the one piloting. Besides, you get the fun part since you’re the gunner. All I do is check off stops and stuff.”

Just then, the patrol gunship came around the corner, pulling up next to the clones. A group of other clones came out, chatting.

“You hear about that clone that lost it? I think his number is 5555.” One said to another.

“Fives? Damn, yeah, I’ve heard of him, met him once too. He was an ARC trooper and everything, what happened?”

“Not really sure, from what I heard he freaked about his inhibitor chip or something and attacked the chancellor. Think Commander Fox had to put him down.”

The conversation continued, but it left the earshot of the three. Indigo had always wondered why they had to have a sudden debriefing about their inhibitor chips, and that must have been why. He had heard that name from other clones when he was still working on the front lines. From all the stories told to him, Fives had been a great soldier. Of course Indigo didn’t know him, but what he had heard didn’t sit right with him. Something was off, but he couldn’t be sure what.

The last clone, presumably the pilot, came out just behind the other four, and he seemed surprised.

“It’s just you three?”

“Yes, it’s already been approved. We have the forms if you need to see them.” Balance responded quickly. 

The other clone just shrugged. “That’s alright. It should be an easy shift anyway, everything for us was clear.” With that and a nod, the last clone left. Balance and Mask got into the ship, Indigo lingering behind them.

“You alright?” Mask asked, glancing back at Indigo as the door closed behind them.

“Yeah, just thinking about what those other guys were saying.”

“Don’t worry about it Indi, I’m sure it’s just some damn scut told through ten others before it got to you and is blown all out of proportion.”

Indigo gave a small nod but didn’t seem to truly believe Mask. “You’re probably right.” He muttered.

Balance was already sitting in the pilot’s seat as Indigo settled into the gunner spot as Mask leaned against one of the walls.

“Ready to go?” Balance asked, already beginning to press buttons.

“I’m fine,” Mask responded, already back on the datapad.

“Me too,” Indigo replied. He couldn’t stop thinking about what those other clones had said, however. Mask was probably right, it was likely nothing but rumors. Yet, as their patrol began, it refused to leave his mind.


	2. Suspicions

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks so much to everyone who's even bothered to read this so far! It means so much to me <3 This chapter is a bit short, but I hope you still enjoy it!

The day had quickly passed in Coruscant, and before long, the sun had vanished and the planet had been brought into the night, though the bright lights of the city kept it bright.

The trio had long since finished their patrol, now relaxing in the bunks. Balance was reading a holobook on his bed and Mask had gone off to work out, leaving Indigo to stare at the bunk above him in a bored silence, his thoughts still focused on the conversation he had heard earlier.

“You want to go to a bar or something? I’ve heard they’re cool.” Indigo asked as he flipped onto his side to face Balance.

“I’m good, I’ve been wanting to read this forever,” He replied, looking up from his holobook. “Mask might want to go? I think it involves drinking though, and you know how he is with people seeing him without his helmet.

“Yeah,” Indigo agreed with a sigh before sliding out from his bottom bunk. “I’m gonna take a shower then see if I can turn in early.”

“Mmm.” Was all the response he got from Balance, he was already deeply ingrained with his holobook again.

As Indigo wandered the halls, his mind kept drifting back to what he had heard. Try as he might, he couldn’t seem to forget about it. It didn’t involve him in the slightest, and he should just stay out of it. Still, as stupid as it was, Indigo wanted the full story. Maybe he was crazy, but things weren’t adding up in his mind.

Eventually, he arrived at the showers. Indigo immediately noticed that one of the mirrors above a sink had been broken, a small hologram floating in front of it warning people not to use it. Indigo paused in front of the mirror, staring into the broken glass. Glancing down, one piece was sitting alone in the sink. He knew where his chip was, maybe he could-

Indigo had a lot of stupid ideas, but even he could admit this was his worse by far. Balance would kill him, and even Mask would be angry at him. And they would be in the right for doing that. For all he knew, if he cut it out, he could lose his mind and start killing people. No, he shouldn’t.

Yet…

*

The clone slipped his blacks back on after enjoying a nice shower and having a weight lifted off his shoulder. As he made his way back to the bunk, he found himself softly humming.

Mask was back and had been in the middle of talking with Balance, but both paused and looked over when he entered the room.

“Wow, you’re in a good mood.” Balance commented.

“Yeah, I am!” Indigo agreed cheerfully. “Turns out a good shower can do wonders for you!”

“Glad to hear i-” Mask was saying, but he suddenly stopped. “Fracking hell man, what happened to you? You have a nasty cut on the side of your head.”

“Oh, that,” Indigo nervously scratched at the cut as he spoke. “Just slipped and hit my head. I’m fine though, it looks a lot worse than it is.”

Mask and Balance shared a skeptical glance. Indigo was a terrible liar, and all three of them knew it. Luckily, they said nothing.

“Whatever, don’t come crawling to me when your fracking head is pounding in the morning.” With that, Mask left, presumably to take a shower of his own. When he was gone, Balance gave Indigo a concerned look.

“Are you sure you’re alright?”

“Perfectly. Don’t worry, okay?”

“Alright,” Balance agreed, but his eyes told a different story. “Sleep well.”

“You too.” With that, Indigo laid down in his bed. His body may have been clean, but his conscious wasn’t, and it was near impossible to ignore the horrible twisted feeling in his chest.

Maybe he should have just told them. Then he wouldn’t be laying there, feeling like an awful person. But he knew Balance would have lost his mind if he knew, which honestly, would be a reasonable reaction. Mask would probably shake him silly, maybe even punch him, though again, that would be a very reasonable reaction.

Indigo sighed to himself, finally closing his eyes, hoping sleep would wash away some of the guilt he felt. Sleep did not come easy that night however, only finally succumbing to the darkness when the horrible feeling inside him could not keep his tiredness at bay any longer. 

When he woke though, all the guilt was still there, and if anything, it had become even worse.


	3. The Jedi Temple

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All kudos and any comments are greatly appreciated <3

It was, as usual, a clear morning on Coruscant. The trio was about thirty minutes early thanks to Balance, so they were simply idling around the temple hangar, talking amongst themselves, and occasionally other passing clones. Ever since the hangar had been bombed, the Senate had insisted on upping security, so they had assigned more clones to watch it.

Unfortunately for Indigo, he had more pressing matters besides the small chance of another bombing. The regret of what he had done last night had firmly settled into him as the worst idea he had ever had, let alone went through with. Balance and Mask hadn’t said anything yet, but Indigo knew they knew. All of them knew he couldn’t lie to save his life, and they had been giving him weird looks all day. 

But Indigo didn’t feel any different. He didn’t have a sudden urge to murder everyone or something. Besides the knot of guilt and worry in his chest, he felt normal. He wasn’t sure what he had been expecting to feel, but relatively normal wasn’t it.

A hand suddenly resting on his shoulder snapped Indigo out of his thoughts.

“You okay? You were zoning out there.” It was just Mask. Indigo let out a soft sigh of relief, not even realizing he had been holding his breath.

“Oh, yeah, I’m fine I was just thinking about… stuff.”

Mask gave him a weird look, but he didn’t comment on Indigo avoiding being honest. 

“Well, anyway, Balance and I are going over to help some other guys out with moving some stuff. You okay being by yourself for a bit?”

Indigo nodded shortly, his mind already beginning to drift back to his thoughts. Mask hesitated for a moment, seemingly unsure.

“Alright, if you’re sure. But come and get us before you do something fracking stupid.”

Indigo laughed, and he could tell Mask grinned under his helmet before he left. The good mood only lasted for a few moments before Indigo drifted away again, staring blankly out of the hangar as the city slowly but surely began to wake.

Time seemed to pass at a crawl, the sun slowly but surely rising higher and higher into the sky. Indigo almost drifted off a couple of times, but thankfully he was able to rouse himself. He hadn’t slept well last night, but he didn’t bother complaining about Balance waking him so early. He deserved it. 

Some movement at the edge of his vision caught his attention. It was young Nautolan with greenish-blue skin wearing Jedi Youngling clothes. He seemed nervous, clutching onto what appeared to be his lightsaber anxiously and he seemed to be very unsure of himself, continually looking around in confusion. Indigo hesitated for a moment, then approached the boy. 

“Hey kid, do you need any help?” 

It was only then that the clone realized he hadn’t had a proper conversation with a kid this age in five years. Luckily for him, the boy’s eyes seemed to light up as Indigo spoke to him. 

“Yes sir! Do you know where I am? I was supposed to go to a lesson and I got lost.” The kid stared up at the clone with his big, black eyes, causing Indigo’s heart to melt. He was still vulnerable to the innate charm of small children despite not having spoken to one in years.

“You’re in the hangar right now.”

The boy blinked at him, a clear sign that knowing that didn’t help him one bit.

“Uh, okay. Hmm, alright, how about you just wait here for a second while I talk to my friends?”

The child nodded, and Indigo went off to find Mask or Balance, trying to move quickly without looking panicked.

Before long he ran into Balance, who had at some point snagged the datapad from Mask.

“Oh, he- Wow, okay, what did you do now?” Balance asked with concern.

“Nothing yet, but there’s a child here and he needs help because he’s lost and I don’t know what to do and I might be freaking out just a bit and I need your help.”

Balance firmly gripped onto Indigo’s shoulder, not unlike what Mask did when Balance was freaking out. “Okay, cool your jets. I can pull up a map for the kid. Where did you leave them?”

“Over there.” Indigo gestured to where he had left the Nautolan child, who was rocking back and forth on his heels as he stared at the floor.

“Great. Now, take this, show the kid the map of the temple, and send the kid on their way.”

“I can’t.”

“Why not?”

“I don’t know! It’s just- I- He-” Indigo took a deep breath. “I don’t know why, but this kid is breaking me.”

“They’re just a tiny person.”

“Well, yeah, but- I don’t know why this is happening, but I need you to help me.”

Balanced sighed. “Alright.” Before Indigo could thank him, his brother started heading towards the kid, already getting the map ready, leaving the other clone to hurry after him.

“Okay, where are you going?” Balance asked the kid, a holographic map of the temple now projecting from the datapad.

“I just need to know how to get back inside the main temple sir!” The boy replied enthusiastically.

“All you need to do then is head down here the way you came, and from there you should be able to see the main temple. Can you handle that?” Balance asked as Indigo hovered next to him.

“Yes sir! Thank you, sirs, I hope we meet again soon!” With a smile and a wave, the kid rushed off. Indigo let out a sigh of relief, but there was a pleasant, warm feeling in his chest.

“He was so precious, I thought I was going to die.”

Balance shrugged. “I guess. You better get a hold of yourself though, we have shifts here every other day, and I have a feeling that kid is going to come back.”

Indigo nodded, though his mind was more focused on the happiness he felt. It was the first time since he had removed his chip since he had stopped thinking about it. It would return to him eventually, but for the moment Indigo was genuinely happy.


	4. The Truth

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The hits on this like, doubled and I'm super confused but also super thankful??? 50 people is definitely the most people who have ever read my writing, so thank you so much to everyone who's taken the time to read this. This chapter is pretty angsty, so I hope you enjoy <3

The kid did come back. He returned every day, even if he could only stay for a few minutes before his classes. It was nice to have someone to break the constant routine that came with clone life, even if it didn’t last long. Indigo was immediately attached to the youngling, who he learned was named Erre Kiess, though thankfully he learned how to keep his heart melt to a minimum. Even Mask and Balance grew attached to the kid.

Unfortunately for the trio, they weren’t on temple duty today, and they were working a double shift because troops were needed in the war. Coruscant was quiet though, especially on the higher levels where the three patrolled.

The quiet gave Indigo a lot of time to think, however. Probably too much time, for the guilt he had been able to keep at bay for a while had grabbed a tight hold of him once again. He had been trying to ignore it and just forget what he had done, but he couldn’t. Indigo had to tell them.

After what felt like a century, their shift was finally up. The soft early morning light they had entered the patrol ship in was now replaced with mid-afternoon light that was beginning to grow dusky.

“Finally, I thought we’d be in that fracking thing for the rest of time,” Mask said, stretching as he made his way off of the ship, followed by a very quiet Indigo.

As Balance gave the next shift of clones a too long rundown, Indigo and Mask waited next to a small side alley. Indigo glanced down it, finding it mostly empty, no weird side doors, and thanks to the sun, it was decently well lit. If there was any place to tell your brothers about the worst mistake of your life, it was probably this alley.

Finally, Balance finished with what was probably an essay explaining their very boring shift. He seemed to be in a good mood now that the shift was over. For a moment Indigo considered not telling them, let them be happy, but he forced the idea away. If he followed the line of reasoning, he would probably never tell them.

“Glad that’s over!” Balance exclaimed. “Let’s head back.”

“Actually,” Indigo interrupted, trying his damndest to keep his voice from shaking. “I have something I want to talk to you guys about.”

Mask and Balance shared a look. Indigo was positive they knew what he wanted to talk about. He wanted them to just say it themselves, to do it for him. But they couldn’t, Indigo had to do it himself.

“Is this where we find out you’re an assassin here to kill us?” Mask quipped as Indigo led the other two into the alley. Under normal circumstances, he probably would have laughed at that, and the fact he didn’t was probably a sign that something was up.

Taking a deep breath, Indigo turned and faced them. Even with their helmets still on, he could tell they were concerned, it was practically radiating off of them.

“I-” Indigo tried to say, but his throat seemed to close itself at that exact moment. He should just say it. Get over it. Just do it. Just spit it out, idiot.

“I cut out my inhibitor chip!” He said it louder then he wanted to. Not like it mattered, the street in front of the alley was deserted as a backwater ice planet.

A silence so thick hung in the air that Indigo could almost see it. All three of them stood there, living in the last moments of calm before the storm.

“I kriffing knew it,” Mask said, breaking the silence. “Hit your head my ass!” He sounded angry, understandably, but he hadn’t punched Indigo. Yet.

Balance was still silent, but he was shaking. Indigo had never been scared of Balance before, but now it was pretty likely his brother would murder him.

“I can’t believe it.” Balance finally said, clearly very, very angry, but there was also a bit of laughter in his voice. Not the happy kind, of course, the kind an insane person makes. It didn’t last long though.

“I can’t believe you.” He said the last word with such venom that Indigo flinched. “I knew you were stupid, but I didn’t think you could screw up this badly. What made you think this was a good idea? A conversation you heard in passing? That’s crazy. You’re crazy.”

Indigo was about to say something, try to defend himself somehow, but Balance wasn’t done yet.

“It’s a miracle we didn’t die before this, especially since all the others did! I thought being stationed on Coruscant would give us a chance of living a good life, a life where we don’t die. I’ve worried so much about us, made sure we were never late, that we never forgot anything, so there wasn’t one reason for them to even think about terminating us for a second, and just like that you’ve ruined everything we’ve worked for! Everything I’ve worked for!” Balance was gesturing wildly now, voice drenched in rage and panic. “We’re going to die once someone finds out. And someone will find out, they always do. They’re always watching, just waiting for an excuse to finally get rid of us.”

Balance hadn’t talked like that since they lost the squadron. He had always worried about getting in trouble, but Indigo thought he and Mask had helped get Balance past thinking the higher-ups wanted them dead. Indigo wanted to reach out to him, but he was sure it would only make things worse.

“We’re dead men walking now. It’s only a matter of time before they kill us. We’re doomed.” Balance turned, looking Indigo in the eyes. “And it’s all your fault.” With that, Balance stormed off. Indigo felt awful, but he deserved it. These were the consequences for the stupid, stupid thing he had done.

Mask just sighed. “I don’t know what to say. Just… Just give us some space, okay?” Without waiting for an answer, Mask left as well, leaving Indigo alone.

The clone leaned against the wall, quickly slipping down it. He was such an idiot. He had brought this upon himself. He had ruined everything not only for himself but for Balance and Mask. They never asked to be a part of this, but he had dragged them down with him.

What had he done?


	5. Alone [Mostly]

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for posting this a bit later then usual, my reminder didn't go off ://
> 
> Anyway, got to 69 hits. Nice

It was weird not talking to either of them. After everything, Balance started avoiding him like the plague, and at most Mask would shoot him a glance.

It was the worst when Indigo went to go to bed since Balance still slept directly across from him. Even though Balance never once looked at him, Indigo felt like his eyes were boring into him, judging him.

He deserved it though.

For the first time since they arrived on Coruscant, Balance didn’t wake him up early. He and Mask were still there, they weren’t allowed to leave without him, but somehow that was the worst thing so far. Indigo had never liked it, but it felt wrong not to be awake almost comically earlier then he needed to be.

The trip to the temple was silent. Balance was radiating loathing, while Mask seemed more tired than anything. The latter had always been harder to read, probably because he never let anyone see him without his helmet. 

When they did arrive at the temple, Balance immediately stormed off as far away from Indigo he could get, Mask just giving Indigo a short glance before following Balance.

Indigo didn’t bother following after them. He stayed by the hangar entrance, watching Coruscant begin its morning. He felt exhausted, and the fact he didn’t get much sleep didn’t help either.

Suddenly, there was the soft tapping of small feet running, and before Indigo could turn around, a pair of small arms quickly wrapped over his shoulders in a sort of hug. Indigo smiled to himself as he realized who it was.

“Hey, kiddo.”

“Hi Indi!” Erre said cheerfully, releasing Indigo so he could stand in front of the clone. His big black eyes looked Indigo over, and his expression quickly shifted to one of concern. “You feel sad.”

Indigo was confused for a moment before remembering Erre was a Jedi, even if he was a young one. He was so used to just seeing Jedi swing around their lightsabers on the battlefield we forgot they could do more than that.

“Oh, uh, yeah, I guess I am. A bit.”

“Why?”

“Um…” Indigo didn’t want to also burden a ten-year-old with his stupid life choices, but he couldn’t just ignore the question. “Do you ever get into fights with the other younglings?”

“Sometimes!” Erre responded with a strange amount of enthusiasm. “But we always work it out!”

Indigo had never experienced the hope and innocence of being young. He was made for war and violence, just the same face as millions of others, and that had been drilled into him and his brothers since they were old enough to understand it.

A small, greedy part of Indigo was bitter and angry Erre could have that and he couldn’t. Technically, they were the same age. Could he have been like the youngling before him if he hadn’t been born a weapon of war, and suffered everything that came with the life he had no say in?

The majority of Indigo, however, wanted to protect the young Nautolan at all costs. Preserve a little bit of happiness, give himself something to keep going for. A reminder that there was hope. Hope for life after the war. Hope for others who wouldn’t have to fight it. Hope for people only reading about it in history books. What did they have if they didn’t have hope after all?

“Yeah, I guess you’re right ad'ika.”

Erre blinked at him. “What’s an ad’ika?” He stumbled over the word, saying it in a slightly off way.

“It’s a Mandalorian word. I can teach you about it sometime if you would like?”

The youngling’s eyes lit up. “Really? That sounds fun! Oh, that reminds me of-” Erre began to ramble on about people and things so quickly Indigo could barely keep up. The clone didn’t bother asking him to slow down though, just nodded along as he went on about training and friends and what he had for breakfast and countless other things.

By the time Erre had to leave, making sure he gave Indigo a big hug before we bounced off to his lessons, the clone felt better. His problems weren’t gone of course, but having even a moment to not have to think about it was something Indigo was happy to have, and something he had needed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ad'ika - kid, lad, boy, sweetie, darling, son, daughter, child


	6. Over Our Heads

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know I put it i the tags but panic attack warning for this chapter! Skip from 'As soon as he saw Indigo, Mask seemed relieved, shoulders relaxing. Indigo sat next to the pair of them.' to ' “Alright.” Balance agreed, breathing beginning to return to normal.'

The attack happened a few days later. Indigo’s shift had ended a couple of hours ago, but he hadn’t bothered to change out of his armor yet. He was having dinner in the mess hall, other brothers scattered around.

Then, just like that, the sirens went off. There was a moment of stillness, with nothing but the scream of the siren. At that moment, Indigo remembered the slaughter, remembered all the brothers now dead and forgotten, remembered they had come to Coruscant to escape the war.

After that moment, chaos erupted. Clones scrambled, shoving helmets back on and rushing towards the nearest exit, others running back to the barracks to put their armor on. As Indigo put his helmet on again, finding that the comms weren’t in much better shape. Coruscant had never been attacked before, and no one seemed to know what was going on or what to do. From what Indigo could make out, there were Serpatist ships above the planet, but that was it.

He had to find Mask and Balance. Indigo had gone down early in the battle that led them to be on Coruscant. Mask had lasted a little longer than him from what he was told after everything was said and done. But Balance…

Balance had been through all of it. He had waded through the blood and bodies to find Mask and Indigo, out of the three of them he had the worst injuries, and it had only made him more scared of them all dying. Because most of them had.

Indigo ran. He wasn’t sure where they could be, but he had to find them. He tried not to think about the worst, but if it did happen, he at least wanted to be with the two of them. 

He wasn’t sure how far we went, but eventually, he was in empty halls, and as he rounded a corner, there they were.

Balance was sitting against a wall, knees brought to his chest. His helmet had been discarded nearby as he shook, chest heaving up and down as sweat dripped from his brow. He was muttering to himself as Mask crouched in front of him, holding his hands and speaking to Balance in a soft voice.

As soon as he saw Indigo, Mask seemed relieved, shoulders relaxing. Indigo sat next to the pair of them.

“We’re dead. They’ve come back for us because they couldn’t finish us off last time but this time they’ll get us. They’ll cover the city and sky with our blood, with the blood of our vod. We-”

“Balance.” Mask interrupted his brother’s rambling. “Ogir tal ra kyr'am olar. Anade cuy bal morut'yc.”" Indigo’s brother didn’t usually speak that much Mando’a, but Mask would do practically anything for his brothers. For the first time, Balance paused his ramblings, his eyes finally focusing on the two of them. Even then, he still had the look of a cornered animal in his eyes and he still shook, the heaving in his chest only slowing because he was no longer speaking.

“We’re going to be okay,” Indigo added, noting that, at least for now, Balance didn’t seem to mind his presence. His brother nodded, still shaky, but for now, he was calmer.

“Alright.” Balance agreed, breathing beginning to return to normal. 

As the brothers waited, Indigo tuned back into the channels. Something about the Chancellor seemed to be the main focus, but there was also a call for more guards at the Jedi Temple, just in case.

“Let’s head to the temple. It isn’t a good idea to just sit around here.” Indigo said. “Is that okay with you?” He shot a glance at Balance.

“Yeah, that’s a good idea.”

Balance put his helmet, Mask and Indigo helped him up, and the trio began to make their way to the temple. It was a slow process, but it was worth it for helping their brother. Balance often flinched when there was an explosion overhead, but Indigo and Mask were always there to reassure him that everything was going to be okay, and eventually, they arrived at the Jedi Temple.

The halls in the temple were nearly empty, with various clones scattered and the occasional Jedi darting from one place to another. No one was sure what was going on or what to do, and the tension was so thick in the air Indigo was sure one of the Jedi could have cut through it with their lightsaber.

The three brothers wandered the halls, not sure where exactly they should go until a familiar called out from behind them.

“Indi!”

It was Erre, as happy as ever, acting like there wasn’t a battle going on right above their heads. The young Nautolan waved them over to the room he had been, which held at least ten other younglings, probably between the ages of eight and twelve. The children stared at them, and Indigo was positive his heart had just melted in his chest.

“What’s going on?” The young Nautolan asked. “No one will tell us. Is everything okay?”

Indigo shared a look with his brothers. They couldn’t just tell these kids what was going on.

“Uh, yeah! Everyone’s just a bit busy right now, so we’ll be watching you guys!”

After saying this, Indigo was immediately tackled with a hug, which may or may not have almost made him fall over.

As it turns out, things were relatively fine. They spent a while with the younglings, and it was the first time the three of them had done something together in several days. It was nice, but Indigo knew it wouldn’t last forever, so he did his best to enjoy it while it lasted.

Eventually, the battle was over, and the clones had to leave. By the time they had returned to the barracks though, there was an awkward silence between them once again. It wasn’t angry anymore, just sad.

Mask went to take a shower, leaving Indigo and Balance. They might have been there for hours, or only a few seconds.

“I- I still need more time to think about it. I hope you can understand that.” Balance finally said, his voice barely above a whisper.

“It’s okay.”

And it was. Indigo still felt guilty, but maybe, just maybe, things would turn out alright in the end.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ogir tal ra kyr'am olar. Anade cuy bal morut'yc - Roughly translates to "There is no blood or death here. Everyone is alive and safe."


	7. It Begins

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have no excuse uploading this short of a chapter a day late, I really need to figure out wtf is up with my reminders. To sort of make up for this, the two updates after this will be on saturday instead of sunday! also, as previously mentioned, this chapter is heckin short, but the next one is 2k+ words, so i hope anyone reading this can look forward to that at least!

The next few days were a mess. Everything was relatively fine after the attack. The Chancellor had been kidnapped, but they got him back, and one of the Jedi had killed the Sith leading the Separatists. Indigo didn’t particularly care about the deep intricacies of the war, but that seemed like a good thing.

Even better, he was talking with Balance and Mask again. It wasn’t as much as they used to, but at this point, Indigo would accept anything.

Despite that, something seemed off with Mask. Indigo couldn’t figure out what exactly, but he seemed jumpy and nervous. It was strangely familiar. He was probably just anxious after the attack, like Balance. It couldn’t be anything else, right?

The dusk of Coruscant was beginning to fade into the night. Indigo was on his way to the mess hall when Mask stopped him.

“I need to talk to you about something.” His brother sounded nervous, something Indigo wasn’t sure Mask had ever been before.

“Uh, sure?”

And suddenly Indigo was being pulled along by his wrist, and Mask was walking with a fierce determination. Knots of fear were already beginning to form in the clone’s chest.

They stopped in a small, dead-ended corridor, the only room being a storage closet for rarely used cleaning supplies. It reminded Indigo far too much of the alley he had confessed to Balance and Mask in, and a small, irrational part of his brain was sure he was about to get murdered.

“What’s wrong? You’re acting really weird, are you okay?”

Mask hesitated. Oh, something was definitely wrong.

“You know the thing with our chips?”

Indigo felt his stomach drop. He swallowed nervously, replying after a moment. “Yeah?”

“That was really kriffing stupid of you, by far the stupidest thing you’ve done. But, I looked into it. There was some stuff I couldn’t get into, it was behind passwords. It got me thinking though. I talked to some guys and found someone who was there when CT-5555 died. I put everything I knew together, and I decided to- To remove my chip. Not with broken glass of fracking course, I snuck into the medbay the other night.”

Indigo wasn’t sure if he had ever heard Mask speak that much, his brother had never been the talkative type. He was stunned, unsure of how to respond to it.

“Balance is going to kill us both.”

He hadn’t meant to say it. It had just slipped out of his agape mouth. Mask sighed, shoulders sinking as he spoke in a gentler tone.

“Definitely. I don’t want to wait, but he’s been so anxious lately, I don’t know if it’s a good idea.”

“Well, we have to do something.”

“Yeah.”

They let the silence linger between the two of them. Balance had freaked out enough when Indigo had confessed to him, and truthfully, Indigo wasn’t known for being the most rational and self-controlling clone. Not only would this feel like enough betrayal to Balance, but Mask had also always been the most level headed of the three of them.

Perhaps it would be best to just not tell him at all. Probably not, but it was what Indigo was about to suggest when suddenly, his comm clicked to life with a crackle.

For a moment there was silence, and time seemed to freeze. Despite being inside, the wind seemed to shift, and the universe seemed to be holding its breath. It was like the moment before the remaining troops were told which brothers did and didn’t make it, or just before they stormed onto the battlefield. The final bit of calm before the storm.

Then, a voice. It didn’t sound like any clone Indigo had heard before, not practically identical to his own. No, it was old and rough, and it sent a shiver up his spine. It was so wrong, almost unnatural. It wasn’t the type of voice he had ever expected to hear over the comms, and yet, there it was, speaking to him, and presumably every clone, right now.

_ “Execute Order 66.” _


	8. The World is Crumbling Beneath Our Feet

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Any kudos or comments are appreciated <3

The two brothers shared a look. Indigo had never heard of that code. There was no further elaboration, just two words, and a number.

And yet, it filled Indigo with an indescribable dread. He couldn't explain why, not yet anyway, but something about it was horribly, horribly wrong.

“Do you-” Indigo started, but he was interrupted but the sudden thunder of footsteps. Suddenly, a group of their brothers passed. It shouldn’t have been strange, but the way they moved was nearly identical, and for the first time the helmets made them seem empty and emotionless. None of them even paused as they passed, or gave Indigo and Mask a look.

“Something’s wrong. We need to find Balance.”

Mask gave a short nod of agreement. “He was in the bunks before I came to find you.”

And that’s where they went. But the bunks were empty, not a single other clone was left, and it felt so wrong.

“Okay, I hate everything about this, but we can figure it out,” Indigo started, trying not to panic. Yet.

“He can’t be far,” Mask replied. “And it seemed like everyone was leaving, probably because of that order or whatever.”

“The closest exit is the south one.”

And like that, they were off running. What if he was already gone? It would be near impossible to find him in a place like Coruscant, especially since they had no idea where he might be going. They couldn’t lose him, they had lost everyone else, it was just the three of them left and Indigo didn’t know if he and Mask would last if it was just the two of them.

As they reached the south entrance, a group was just leaving. In the back as Balance, and Indigo had never been more thankful he had convinced him to put those silver marks on his armor. Just as Balance was about to leave, Mask put a hand on his shoulder.

“What?” Balance said, whipping around. It was Indigo’s brother, but it also wasn’t. It was his voice, but it didn’t sound like him, he held himself in an entirely wrong way, and there were so many tiny, unimportant things that Indigo couldn’t even begin to think about them all. But the worst thing by far was that he wasn’t panicking. Under normal circumstances, Balance not panicking would have been great, but these were not normal circumstances.

“We can’t just stand around here, we have orders to fulfill.” Balance continued. “Let's go.”

“Wait, what’s going on?” Indigo asked, only just noticing Mask fidgeting with his blaster at the edge of his vision, changing it to stun mode.

“Didn’t you get the order? We’re supposed to execute the Jedi traitors.” Indigo stood in stunned silence. How could he say that?

“I can’t let you do that.” That was the wrong thing to say. Balance stiffened, hesitating for a moment, before reaching for his blaster. Mask must have been expecting it though, because his hand had been resting on his blaster and he pulled it out, shooting a bolt at Balance. His brother fell, and for a second Indigo feared the worst, but there was no smoking hole in the armor.

Indigo wanted to collapse on the floor right there and then, never moving again. He felt exhausted already, but something clicked in his head.

“The order. The order, 66 or whatever, it’s for the Jedi. It’s a command to kill them.” He muttered, feeling like he had been punched in the gut. “We need to go to the temple, now. All the Jedi- The younglings- Erre-”

“I know, but we can’t just leave him here. We have to figure out what’s wrong with him. With all of them. And why it isn’t affecting us.”

It didn’t take but a moment for Indigo to piece it together.

“Our chips. We don’t have ours anymore, and they do. Something about them must be making them do this.” Indigo paused for a moment before whispering to himself, “I can’t believe cutting mine out was actually a good thing.”

“We should get him to the medbay. Maybe one of the droids there can remove it. Help me carry him.” How Mask was staying so calm was a mystery to Indigo, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t grateful for it. The two of them wrapped an arm each other their shoulders, and they carried Balance to the medbay like he had been injured on the battlefield.

Like everywhere else, it was empty in the medbay, save for the medical droids. They laid Balance on one of the movable beds. Indigo sat on one of the other beds, only vaguely aware of Mask telling the droids what to do and where the chip was. Indigo removed his helmet as Mask settled beside him and Balance was being rolled off to a back room for surgery.

“What is even going on. What are we even doing.” They weren’t questions, but Mask answered them like they were anyway.

“Stars, I wish I knew.”

The two of them just leaned on each other for a while. It was necessarily peaceful, but it was quiet and gave them a moment to breathe, something they desperately needed.

It didn’t last long enough though, as before long one of the medical droids was telling them the surgery was done. Indigo could only bring himself to nod weakly as he stood to follow after the droid and Mask, helmet hanging loosely in his grip.

Balance looked peaceful when he wasn’t under the control of a chip in his brain and about to shoot Indigo. Under his armor, his chest rose and fell gently, and it made Indigo want to pass out as well.

“When will he be awake?” Mask asked the droid.

“Any moment now.”

And as if he was on cue, Balance let out a soft groan, eyes beginning to flicker open. It took him several moments, but the slight glaze over his eyes faded and he seemed to recognize Indigo and Mask.

“Ugh, what did you two do?” Indigo felt like he could laugh with joy, or fall into a sobbing mess. Perhaps both at the same time. Balance set up, holding his head with one hand. “I feel like I got stunned and the last thing I remember was reading in the bunks.”

“You don’t remember?” He hadn’t meant to say it so quietly. Indigo sounded like a scared youngling. He felt like one too. Balance blinked, confusion crossing his face.

“No? Should I?” Fear joins the confusion on his face, and Balance sits up straighter. “What’s going on?”

“No memories of anything? Nothing about Order 66?” Mask asks, and Balance cringes at the mention of the order, closing his eyes.

“Uh, a bit? It kind of hurts to think about. Something about the Jedi and-” He stopped, eyes widening as his whole body froze in a panic. “Oh no. No no no no. The order, it’s to- We have to- I don’t-” His breathing was quickly growing more rapid. Immediately, Indigo grabbed onto one of his hands and Mask held Balance’s shoulders firmly.

“You didn’t do anything. We got the chip out of you before anything happened, it was making you want to do those things. You’re okay.” Mask said, his voice steady and calm.

“Okay. Okay.” Balance took a couple of deep breaths, shoulders relaxing. “But if it’s the chip, everyone else… And how come you're not there?” Balance gave Mask a questioning before he was hit with the realization. “Oh, you didn’t-”

“We can explain later, but right now we don’t have time.” Indigo interrupted Balance this time. “Right now we need to go to the temple. Maybe Erre survived.” The clone didn’t want to think about the other option.

Balance seemed hesitant. “Alright. Let's go.” They put their helmets on and ran.

Night had already taken over the planet, but the lights of the great city kept the darkness at bay. The trio was able to commandeer a vehicle from a civilian, and as they were about to drive out, Indigo noticed someone saluting them. He didn’t think anyone had ever saluted at him before, and if it wasn’t that night, maybe he would have appreciated it. But at that moment, it only added to the sick feeling in his stomach.

It felt like an eternity before they reached the temple, but in reality, it didn’t take long with Mask going at far above the speed limit, weaving in and out of traffic. There was no smoke, but the quietness of the temple was worse than any physical damage. There were no Jedi guards, not even one entering and leaving the temple. And that’s when Indigo saw them.

The bodies. A few of them draped over the stairs. He tried not to look too long.

It was only worse inside. Now, they could hear the faint sound of blaster fire in the distance. There were more, close together, laying on top of each other. Unlit lightsabers rolled away from their owners, some still loosely clung to by not so cold hands. Thick red pools still slowly growing on the ground. It was a slaughter.

Indigo could see Balance tense up, and he knew it must look exactly like what happened to their fallen brothers. But Indigo didn’t have time to care. He tried his best to avoid the bodies, but he sprinted ahead, leaving Mask and Balance to chase after.

He came across the younglings’ room too soon. They weren’t even teenagers, only trained in the basics of the Force. But they had been Jedi, so they had been exterminated. Indigo wanted to throw up right there and then, but he had to know for sure.

Erre was curled up in a corner, blood covering his clothes. Indigo pulled off his helmet and let it fall to the floor as he dropped to his knees. Carefully, fearfully, he cradled the small body. Indigo could feel the tears forming, and he wanted to sob, to wail, so much.

But something caught his attention. There was no blaster mark anywhere on the boy, no blood pool where he had just been laying. As the clone looked closer, the blood on Erre’s clothes wasn’t a natural splatter, it looked like it was made by tiny hands, and his saber was still held tight in his now red grip. There was also the soft rise and fall of his chest, though Erre was trying to hide it. Indigo wondered how the kid knew how to do that, but did it matter?

He laughed as tears began to roll. “Oh ad'ika, you’re so clever.”

And just like that, the young Nautolan’s eyes opened, big and black and alive. There was fear in them of course, but also relief as he stared up at Indigo.

“Indi?”

“Shh, it’s alright. You’re safe. Everything is going to be fine.” Indigo said, doing his best to smile. “Keep your eyes closed. I’ll keep you safe. I promise.”

Erre gave a small nod and closed his eyes. Somehow, the clone was able to keep it together as he put his helmet on once again. He stood up, holding the youngling gently as he grabbed one of the clean blankets, gently draping it over Erre. Indigo wandered back into the hallway, just in time for Mask and Balance to catch up with him.

“Is he…” Mask didn’t say anything else, but all of them knew what he meant. Indigo shook his head, grinning to himself.

“He’s okay.”

His brothers both sighed in relief, but the small family wasn’t out of the woods yet.

“We need a ship. Something that can do hyperspace and get us out of here as soon as possible.” Mask said, turning to Balance. “Do you think you can fly?”

“I think. I can try.”

“That’ll do. Let’s go.”

Back to running. Mask was in the front, leading them to the temple hangar, where there were certain to be ships. Indigo was in the middle, holding Erre close, not wanting to ever let the boy go again. Balance covered the rear, trying not to look at the bodies, focusing on the fact that he somehow hadn’t caved in on himself yet.

As they rounded a corner though, they came to face to face with one of their brothers, blaster in his hand. Immediately, the other raised his weapon, but Mask wasn’t having it. He didn’t go for his blaster though. Instead, he decked his fellow clone in the helmet. And he dropped.

Mask paused for a moment, clutching his hand in pain, but it didn’t last long. They didn’t have time to stop.

Like everywhere else, the hangar hadn’t escaped any death. There were less, but they were still there. The three scanned the hangar for a moment, looking for a suitable ship. They quickly found one, and they ran for it. Indigo noticed the name painted onto the side of it. The Silver Angel. It felt ironic, but Indigo had never exactly been sure of the definition of irony.

Balance went straight for the cockpit, while the other two sat down on the semicircle of seats around a table in the small lounge. Checking on Erre, somehow the Nautolan had fallen asleep despite everything.

In what must have been record time, they had taken off into the night sky. Soon they were out of the planet’s atmosphere and then, just like that, they were in hyperspace. Indigo wasn’t sure where Balance was sending them, but he couldn’t find the energy to care. Balance joined his brothers in sitting, all three of them drained.

There was so much any of them could say. So much they should say. But no one wanted to. They all wanted to sleep, to forget about everything that had just happened, everything they had just witnessed, and leave it for the future versions of them to deal with, even if that future was only a sleep away. None of them bothered to take off their armor, instead passing out one after another, leaning against each other as one little, bloody, broken family.


	9. It's All We Can Ask For

Months had passed since the order. The Galactic Empire replaced the now fallen Galactic Republic, led by Galactic Emperor Palpatine. They had declared all Jedi and anyone assisting them enemies who should either be turned into the proper authorities or killed. The Clone Wars had ended, and peace had finally come to the galaxy. At least, that was the story told in all the propaganda. Indigo knew better though because he had to live through the truth.

The months had been hard. Turns out, it’s hard for three clones and a ten-year-old to find work, especially since all of them were criminals. They managed though, somehow, likely through pure luck. But it was hard.

None of them knew how to raise a child, especially a force-sensitive one struggling through trauma and grieving. When they were all grieving. Most of the time it ended with all of them curled up and asleep together somewhere that wasn’t meant for sleeping. It wasn’t the best, but it was what they had.

They worked two at a time, always for people shady enough to not care about hiring obvious clones for their security work. Indigo hated it, but there weren’t many other jobs they could do with their… Unique skills. The jobs paid well enough, but on more occasions than preferred, they had to threaten their way to proper payment.

Out of everything, the Empire was surprisingly the least worrying. Once they had gotten to the Outer Rim, gave The Silver Angel a fresh coat of paint, and removed anything that could be used to track them, it seemed any threat for the Empire had vanished. They would only grow bigger and gain more power as time went on of course, but for now, they were off their radar.

Eventually, they settled on a little planet named Kothla. It sat on the edge of the Outer Rim and wild space. Besides the farms, there weren't any resources the Empire could want, unless they were in the market for giant grassy plains and cloudy gray skies. It was as close to perfect as they were going to get.

They settled near a river that Erre could use to keep himself hydrated. It was only a few klicks out from a town as well, and while the people who lived there were cold at first, they thankfully warmed up when they realized the small family wasn’t a threat to them.

It was nice having the help. Thanks to the locals, they were able to build a house for themselves instead of living out of their ship. It wasn’t grand, but it was homey, and far more comfortable than the bunks had ever been.

Before long they had some small farmland tilled and growing crops that would be ready in a matter of months. The idea of eating things straight from the ground instead of the mush mess hall served or whatever they had been able to get the best deal on at the port was strange, but not unpleasant by any means.

It was another cloudy day, the wind gently moving the grass as late morning sunlight tried to make its way through the blanket of gray that is usually enveloping the sky. Indigo rubbed his eyes sleepily. He was annoyed they had let him sleep in so much, but not annoyed enough to think about it for long. Half asleep, he pulled on one of the ponchos Balance had made with the help of the woman who was teaching him to sew. His armor was neatly stacked in the corner, no longer something he had to wear every day.

Stumbling outside, he found Mask sitting against the wall, staring at the slowly moving, impenetrable wall of clouds, humming a tune he must have heard while visiting town. He was still wearing his helmet, having yet to find a replacement for it and probably never going to

“Balance is at Lilla’s place again,” Mask said, only glancing at Indigo for a moment. “And Erre’s playing with some of the kids from town. He should be back in time for lunch.”

It was so peaceful, it seemed fake. Part of Indigo thought this all would end up being a dream, and that any moment now he would snap awake in prison or something. But he didn’t.

“We really made it,” He murmured, barely audible to anyone but himself. “Do you think we deserve it?” Indigo gestured broadly at everything. “All of this?”

Mask didn’t even need a second to think about it. “Of course. We were practically slaves. We had lives, but we weren’t really living. We went through so much, and for what? Nothing, that’s what. But this,” Mask paused, taking in the fresh air. “This is something.”

Indigo was silent for a moment. It wasn’t over. If anything, this felt like the beginning of something, and they were running away from it. They had already gone through so much though, why should they put themselves through even more.

“Yeah, this really is something.” Indigo finally agreed.

In truth, they probably deserved more. But none of them minded this. Because it was more than something. It was a chance, a real, honest chance at living relatively peaceful lives, at least for a little while.

And peace was all they could ask for.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to everyone who read this, I appreciate you so, so much. Posting my writing publicly was, and still is truthfully, something that brings me a lot of anxiety, but having done this, I feel a bit better about putting my works, and myself, out there for others to see. I do have ideas for a sequel fic to this, but I haven't started working on it yet as I've been distracted by other projects, and frankly, my motivation to work on it so far as been low. However, if anyone would be interested in it, please, comment below! And again, thank you to everyone who read this <3


End file.
